Multimodal metaphor and metonymy in political cartoons as a means of country image construction

Abstract

The interrelation of metaphors and metonymies often attracts the attention of linguists, but the combination of multimodal metaphors and metonymies, which are important components of cognition and are essential for the creation and understanding of multimodal texts, has not been sufficiently studied. The purpose of this study is to delineate the interaction between multimodal metaphors and metonymies in political cartoons and identify their role in forming the country image. The research material includes 30 political cartoons on the topic of the Sino-American trade dispute 2018-2021, selected from Yandex search engine according to keywords (tags, Hashtag). We considered the metaphors and metonymies contained in the cartoons and analyzed their cognitive interrelation. Since the currently existing categorization of the varieties of metaphtonymy does not meet the goal, we used our own typology of the interaction of multimodal metaphors and metonymies, which includes two categories: inclusive and interactive. We have identified 20 interactive and 10 inclusive political cartoons with characteristic cultural attributes. The use of cognitive-discursive analysis allowed us to reveal the features of visual, verbal and conceptual interaction of metaphorical transfers and metonymic shifts in the construction of the positive image of China and the negative image of the United States. The results showed that multimodal metaphors and metonymies in political cartoons are intertwined in different ways, they can make an impact on the mind of people and form the country image.